Premises Liability Applies in Public Places

It’s the law that property owners must take every reasonable
precaution to make sure there are no serious hazards that would harm or
kill anyone coming on the property.

Premises liability applies to personal and commercial property and
any owner or manager looking after property is legally bound to make
sure the premises are safe for the public. If the property is poorly
maintained and an injury, illness or death happens as a result of being
on another person’s property, the plaintiff may be awarded compensation
by the courts against the negligent property owner.

It doesn’t matter what kind of property is being discussed, although
some properties are inherently more hazardous than others, e.g.
industrial sites with power tools, toxic chemicals and heavy machinery.
Commercial locations such as stores have high pedestrian traffic and
anything may happen in a crowded store; for instance, items falling
from shelves or items on display in the patio furniture department
falling apart when someone sits on it.

While your home may very well be your castle it is also a place that
must be safe for visitors. Other locations that people have a
reasonable expectation that they will be safe are airports. Witness a
recent case where a passenger was walking through O’Hare airport and
slipped and fell as the result of an oily substance on the floor. The
passenger sustained a broken kneecap and was unable to work for a long
period of time. The settlement in that particular case was $800,000 for
her injuries and damages. It was alleged in that case that the
management of the airport should have known about the oily substance on
the floor, as there was a high likelihood of spills of that nature
happening in an airport.

Every case and accident is unique which means that in every case the
circumstances of that particular case play a huge role in what the
eventual outcome may be. A good example of this may be an injured
construction worker who took a fall at the mall, slipping on spilled
coffee, will have different needs to resolve his case than an office
worker in the same situation.

While a slip and fall injury may be just around the corner in a lot
of people’s lives, there are certain fairly common instances where
premises liability comes into play. They include a porch collapse,
stair collapse, elevator and escalator injuries, fires, swimming pool
injuries, lead paint poisoning and mercury poisoning, and what is
considered to be a “typical” garden variety slip and fall such as a wet
spot on the floor in the vegetable section of a store.

Generally speaking, if there is existing case law for an accident a
person has, this will assist the premises liability attorney in
recovering any damages due to the victim for medical care, suffering,
pain and other incidental damages.

To learn more about Atlanta personal injury lawyer, Stephen M. Ozcomert or Atlanta personal injury, Atlanta personal injury lawyer, Atlanta personal injury attorney, visit Ozcomert.com.